View Full Version : Book to go with mini-Motherpeace
My (mini) Motherpeace deck is finally arriving next week sometime.
Is there a particular book which is worth getting for it? I've seen three on Amazon:
Motherpeace Tarot Playbook
Motherpeace Tarot Guidebook
Motherpeace : A Way to the Goddess Through Myth, Art, and Tarot
The Guidebook is by far the cheapest option, half the price of the others.
I am happy to manage with the deck and LWB plus my own intuition unless one of these will significantly add to my experience of the deck.
Aerin
aerin,
i am curious to know what you think about the deck. why did you buy this one?
i haven't got it btw, and i don't know about these books, soz.
kaz
truthsayer
02-06-2002, 13:20
i've read in several bibliographies and others that "a way to the goddess thru myth, art, and tarot" is a good book to have w/ or w/o the deck. i haven't heard of the other 2. the main complaint i've ever heard about the deck or book is that it's highly feminist.
mauishelle
02-06-2002, 15:29
Originally posted by Aerin
Motherpeace : A Way to the Goddess Through Myth, Art, and Tarot
Hey Aerin,
I have the above book to go with my mini-Motherpeace and like it quite a bit. I may actually have an extra copy hanging around as I thought I'd lost it at some point and picked it up again. I think it was the book that made me love the deck. I think I mentioned in another thread that I don't "love" the artwork on the deck which is generally a necessity for me, but while often charged as being too feminist of a deck, I find it to be a very healing deck. IMHO the book is a must have to understand the imagery.
Enjoy! I'd be happy to see if my extra copy is still hanging around if you're anywhere near the west coast. If not, you may not want to wait as mail can be a little slow from the middle of the Pacific LOL
~Shelle
I am still toying around with adding the Motherpeace to my collection but I could not make up my mind to get the standard or the mini version. Besides, I was a bit put off by some reviews so I still added it not to my collection.
Thanks mauishelle, I am in the UK so the postage may be a bit much! I will certainly look further into the book though. truthsayer, thanks as well: good to get 2 posts recommending the same book.
kaz, I just fancied a round deck and from what I've read this is a good one. The feminist angle doesn't bother me - that could mean anything from just not patriarchal to anti-men I suppose, but I haven't read anything which suggests the latter.
I will let you all know what I think when it arrives - with the Jubilee holiday it is likely to be later on this week. I got the mini one because I like small things.
Aerin
Originally posted by catlin
I am still toying around with adding the Motherpeace to my collection but I could not make up my mind to get the standard or the mini version.
I have a simple answer to this: GET THEM BOTH!!!!!!! }) Well, that's what I'm gonna do.... I really want the Motherpeace Round: It the first round Tarot deck after all!
Aerin: If you really want the Motherpeace: A Way To The Goddess Through Myth, etc, and if you have problems finding it, I can get it for you. I live in the UK, and the book is in one of my local bookstores. (At least, it was when I last checked!)
Kiama
mauishelle
03-06-2002, 16:54
Originally posted by Aerin
Thanks mauishelle, I am in the UK so the postage may be a bit much! I will certainly look further into the book though. truthsayer, thanks as well: good to get 2 posts recommending the same book.
Oops, sorry, didn't even look at your profile. Not even that it would be that expensive, it would just take forever LOL
Hugs, Shelle
AutumnMoonfire
05-06-2002, 23:40
I have all of the books mentioned, If you want something that will go beyond the LWB, the Book Motherpeace: A Way to the Goddess Through Myth, Art and Tarot(the big book) would be the best choice. The Guildbook is fine except that it is an expanded less annoying LWB. The Playbook is a thing unto itself...has more to do with using Tarot as a study tool, kinda.
The big book does not give reversed meanings...I didn't read reversals for a long time, but I can imagine that they could be read as perverted or blocked meanings or whatever your intuition tells you to do.
I also have both the Mini and regular decks, I enjoy them, they are what got me into Tarot in the first place
mauishelle
06-06-2002, 02:23
Originally posted by AutumnMoonfire
The big book does not give reversed meanings...I didn't read reversals for a long time, but I can imagine that they could be read as perverted or blocked meanings or whatever your intuition tells you to do.
Very true. One of the reasons I was attracted to this round deck when I was first starting was that I didn't want to have to deal with reversals and felt it was easier to just read the cards upright if they were round. LOL When I finally became comfortable with reversals I noticed that these cards have a very distinct way of falling not only upright and reversed but also full on the left side or full on the right side. I find the ones sitting on the left as being energies not being fulfilled and to the right as pushed a little too far, and then reversed are reversed of course...
~Shelle
Well, I've now ordered the book everyone recommended, and I got the deck yesterday. The Mary Greer Reversals book covers ways of using them for round decks to do with phases of the moon I seem to remember, sounds similar to yours mauishelle.
I think it is lovely, it feels full of gentle rounded flowing energy (the pictures as well as the card shape!) in contrast to, say, the Thoth which always makes me think of angles and points and direct harsh light and something a bit frozen in time. Kind of a cups-y deck as against a swords-y deck.
Aerin, who was rambling just now. Ah well.
Hm, you made me curious. Ok, Motherpeace moves a bit further up on my wishlist.
Curiosity is generally a Good Thing.
According to me ;)
Aerin
mauishelle
06-06-2002, 12:25
Hey Aerin,
Glad you like it! What a great way to describe it...a "cups-y" deck as opposed to a "swords-y" deck! I always call it my "deep, gentle" deck. It gets to the emotional bottom of a situation, but even if it sees a harsh reality, somehow it seems you can see a positive course of action...anyway, you described it much better :)
Have fun ;)
~Shelle
You guys have forced me into it... I've now got a Motherpeace Round deck! I let on to my boyfriend how much I wanted it, and he saw it in on of the 'New Age' shops on his way home from work, so he bought it for me. :D I must say this deck, despite its often childish artwork, is gorgeous! The meanings are so simply shown that it is easy to read, and the Aces! They are great! I often find a big flaw in most decks is that the meanings for each Ace don't show through in the cards themselves.. Most decks have say, One Cup and some water for the Ace of Cups, which to me, means nothing... In Motherpeace, the Ace of Cups has a woman diving into a big cup of water... Very symbolic to me. The same with the Ace of Pentacles: Instead of just a Pentacles hovering over a garden, this card shows somebody laying on a disc-like rug, surrounded by comfort and luxury... It speaks the world to me!
I also love the Court Cards in this deck: The characters are doing things which relate to the meaing of the card itself...
This is a little treasure basically, and I will be buying the book when my next pay check arives!
Kiama
AutumnMoonfire
06-06-2002, 15:31
I hope you do enjoy it, It is a fun deck. I didn't find the artwork childish so much as non-pretensious. If I hadn't spent a lot of time with this deck the idea of drawing one's own deck would seem very alien to me. There is something so approachable about Motherpeace.
The Motherpeace deck is the one I learned on. It was the deck used by the Order I am studying under. To be honest, I have never understood the negative reviews....I don't see the deck as "flaming at the mouth feminist" at all. But, I am coming from the spiritual path of honoring both the Goddess and the God so it is not "abnormal" for me to see the Goddess.
One of the things I really like about this deck is the use of multicultural women in it and with *real* bodies!!! (not Barbie style)
A few of the cards could be either male or female IMHO.
The "must have" book is the one you can get with the book/mini-deck set. It is *Motherpeace: A way to the Goddess Through Myth, Art, and Tarot*.
From what I understand, there is also a workbook to go with this deck. I did not get it since I am learning directly under a mentor but if I were studying with Motherpeace by myself, I'd probably get it.
The mini-deck is easy to shuffle and handle in your hands. I have large hands and the mini deck is just right.
I think part of the problem is that some decks that have a Goddess slant get labled as totally feminist. I don't see this as unusual, especially since we live in a mostly patriarchial society and seeing mostly female things is not the norm. I sometimes wonder if the other round deck (Daughters of the Moon??? I'm not sure of the name) gets mixed up with the Motherpeace deck when people talk about how totally feminist it is. I just don't see the Motherpeace deck as being soooo feminist...but this other deck I am thinking of is a feminist deck and reminds me of Dianic Wicca and other Goddess-ONLY spiritual paths. Darn, I wish I could remember the name of that other round deck! *lol*
I have purchased other decks but the Motherpeace deck gives me the best readings and I keep on coming back to it. Very intuitive deck for me.
Hugs,
Momof6
divinerguy
19-07-2002, 21:59
Catlin - I have the Mini-Motherpeace. Much easier to use, because it fits in your hand better.
If you have big hands or vision problems, get the big deck.
I also have the Motherpeace Tarot Guidebook. Once you get past the anti-male, Dianic Wicca rhetoric, its not too bad.
I use the deck regularly, because I like the ability to read more than just upright and reversed. A round deck lets you read rising and falling energy levels.
Redwood is sending me Tarot of the Cloisters, which has the round deck features, and doesn't treat me with disrespect simply because I'm a guy.
truthsayer
07-08-2002, 00:55
Originally posted by Momof6
[B].
and seeing mostly female things is not the norm. I sometimes wonder if the other round deck (Daughters of the Moon??? I'm not sure of the name) gets mixed up with the Motherpeace deck when people talk about how totally feminist it is. I just don't see the Motherpeace deck as being soooo feminist...but this other deck I am thinking of is a feminist deck and reminds me of Dianic Wicca and other Goddess-ONLY spiritual paths. Darn, I wish I could remember the name of that other round deck! *lol*
B]
4 round decks: tarot of the cloisters, songs for the journey home, mini and maxi motherpeace. those are the only round decks i can think of. is it one of these? i think you are thinking about daughters of the moon so you have it right.
truthsayer
07-08-2002, 01:07
i got the mini motherpeace in a trade recently. i can't believe how much i like it! of course, i've only seen and handled the large MP which i have never liked since the first time i saw it in 1985. i don't have extra small hands but they aren't large either. the mini size is nice handling. it shuffles and handles easier than the other round decks i've had. some of the images of the lg. MP that seem too much are okay in the mini. i've never thought that size impacted how much i like a deck but apparently it's the case w/ this deck. i hate to think i never gave this deck a chance in so many years. but then maybe it's ME that's changed in the past 17 years and it's not the deck at all! okay, now i've got to see the lg. MP again! LOL i think i have something else to add to the thread i started on "decks you thought you'd hate but now love" thread. :D
i should never pronounce a deck one that i don't like b/c it seems to backfire on me everytime!!!!!!
divinerguy
07-08-2002, 09:19
Truthsayer -
Are you reading reversals as suggested by the authors, or have you developed your own system?
If you're looking for a different way to look at round deck reversals, ask me.
truthsayer
07-08-2002, 10:55
i usually don't worry about reversals but i am interested in hearing your method.
Truthsayer,
*lol* I learned the same lesson with the Gendron. I just did not like it at first look and took it out of yesterday and it did not rub me as much. So, I suspect it will grow on me.
I've never had the larger Motherpeace deck. When I started studying tarot under my spiritual mentor, she just suggested the mini-deck for the tarot work and I got that one. I can see how some of the artwork on the MP deck would not look so good enlarged a lot.
I've never dealt with reversals with the MP deck either but some of the gals in the Order that I am studying with do this.
Oh, the round deck that I was thinking of must be the Daughters of the Moon. Being a woman who practices a eclectic form of women's spirituality, I like all the womanly decks :)
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Momof6